Get an email when we release our next game! You know you'll forget it otherwise.As you may have heard, I'm developing a new game, yay! I will tell you all about it later, but today I'm giving away free technology! You see, at first my idea was to have pixel art for my new game, and to make it look ever so great, I made a shader (it's a bit of code that display graphics) that would be just perfect for making little pixel art 3D effects without the hassle of modeling. When I later decided that I would be mainly using higher resolution graphics, I could no longer use my shader. And I didn't just want it to rot on my hard drive, so here it is world, take this sweet Pixel Art Parallax Mapping shader of mine, and put it to good use.
Here is a quickly made Shadertoy of it, so you can test it for yourself: https://www.shadertoy.com/view/t33yRl
Here is the actual code I used (HLSL): pixelartparallax.txt. It's a little bit different from the Shadertoy version, especially in that this version also allows a bottom heightmap (at which height each pixel begins), useful for making 2d images (sprites).
Below, pixel Art Parallax Mapping on the left, Contact Refinement Parallax (12+4 layers) on the right. Not much of a difference on a high pixel density image like this, except a little bit of banding on the right.
Below: Contact Refinement Parallax (10+5 layers) on the left. Pixel Art Parallax Mapping on the middle (15 iterations tops). Layered Parallaxing (15 iterations) on the right. You start to see the reason I developed this algorithm, both other methods display a bit of banding/pancaking. The benefit of my method is that if your texture resolution is small enough, you need fewer iterations of the algorithm to get perfect results.
This method gives perfect parallaxing results without banding (objects looking like a layered cake), if what you call perfect is to match your heightmap pixels exactly. The denser the heightmap, the more iterations the algorithm requires. That's why this method is usable mainly for pixel art, and especially for angles where you don't see far into the parallax field (as you would need to increase the sample count). It's best for 2d games, especially 2.5d platformers. If you use the method in your game, or make a better version of it, let me know! And if you want to know more about the algorithm, just ask.
What did I end up doing? As I said, I decided to use higher resolution art after all, so I went with contact refinement parallaxing, at least for the moment. It's slightly faster with higher resolution textures, and it's not decidedly worse looking. I'm actually feeling a little guilty not using my own method!
It's so good to see you all again! 😃
Somebody asked for a really old version of Notrium, so here is what I have, the nearly most classic version of Notrium, at least the oldest I could find. Download Notrium 1.11 (2003). I quickly tested that it seems to run fine on my Windows 11.
I originally started working on Notrium back in 2002, during my University studies. Notrium was one of the pioneers of the modern survival and crafting games where you need to gather and combine resources to get better items. My idea was that nearly all of the item combinations were undocumented, and you would need multiple playthroughs to figure out the combinations to survive on a hostile alien world. I believe 1.11 was the most downloaded version of Notrium with millions of downloads total, which gave my webhost some worries at the time. This was the oldest version I could find, but there are still older ones, so let me know if you find one somewhere on your hard drive.
Due to popular demand, I've added resolution independent scaling to Notrium. Previously if you played on a more modern monitor, the objects in the game might appear very small. This fix affects both the camera view of the game, and the inventory & journal screen.
The game view is scaled to how it used to look on my PC when I was developing the game back in 2003, so if you've only played the game recently, it may have appeared very different for you.
I'm ashamed to say, I saw the conversation when it started, and I thought they were just talking about the menu buttons. Then for some reason I just now read it again, and realized that I hadn't really understood what they were asking. 😳
Something Is Stirring in the Kingdom… – Join Our Newsletter!
16.05.2025 by Ville MönkkönenView Comments
I’ve been working on new ideas, updates, and maybe even something big 👀! And the best way to stay in the loop? Our official newsletter. No spam, just the good stuff—development insights, sneak peeks, community highlights, and early access opportunities. Whether you've played for hours or just fell down the well at Northrop, you’re part of the story. And we want you along for what’s next.
If you don't want to hear from us very often, we've got you covered! I've just added more options to the Instant Kingdom newsletter. If you'd just like to know when our new game comes out, there's an option to receive a notice when we announce our new game, and when we release it. If you'd like to know a little more, there's an option to receive news of any major updates in addition to the announce/release news. And lastly, if you'd like to receive all of the updates to this blog, you can! So if you haven't already, sign up now!
I've converted everyone who signed up earlier to the Major Updates frequency, since that was the original wording of the newsletter form. But if you signed up through the game, you're now only at the lowest frequency (new releases and announcements), since that was the wording there. If you've already signed up earlier, you can change your preferred email frequency by typing your email on the same page.
I thought what would entice me to order the newsletter of a game developer I myself were interested in? The answer is obvious, a surprise🎁 would get me to sign up every time! So I'm promising everyone who signs up a (small) surprise. 😊
Hooray again! The Driftmoon Soundtrack is now available on Steam and GOG!
The official Driftmoon soundtrack, composed by the talented Gareth Meek. You won't need the Ooz slime earmuffs here! Includes lossless flac files. The music Gareth created gave the game a perfect blend of peace and excitement, and we couldn't imagine Driftmoon without it. We've unfortunately lost contact with our dear musician, so if you're reading this Gareth: Thank you!
Pro tip: There is a bundle to buy both the game and the soundtrack for a -20% price. If you already have the game, you won't need to buy a second copy, while you still get the -20% price for the soundtrack.
I love listening to music when I develop my games. My favourites are game soundtracks, especially melodic pieces from games of the 1990-2000 era. In case you're interested, here are some of the tracks I listen to: Ville's Favourite Game Music. Feel free to tip me off on any good additions to my list!
As it happens, there is also a free version of the Driftmoon soundtrack on YouTube, give it a go even if you're not planning on buying! This version doesn't get us any income however, so if you really find yourself listening to it more than a few times, or would like a better quality version, consider buying the soundtrack.
And to top it all, we've been sitting on some exciting news: Something new is brewing on the cooktop! (Yes, it's a new home-cooked, Instant Kingdom game! Yay!! 🤩) We can't reveal too much yet, but stay tuned for more. And do consider signing up to be notified when our new game is released. 😍
UPDATE: The soundtrack is now available on GOG too.
Hooray! I've updated the blog! I started this iteration of my blog in 2009 using Wordpress. It used to run on an Amazon SES instance. Because the instance was running a virtual Linux, it required constant updating from me, and so I moved the whole blog to Google App Engine in 2011, making my own version of Wordpress to run on the platform. They promised no need for me to maintain the server, and it was easy to code using Java and Eclipse, tools that I knew well. Since things rarely remain the same for long, it turned out that it did require some maintenance, constantly updating to new versions of libraries used by the Google backend. In the end their system became so bloated and difficult to understand, that I decided it was time to move on.
This time most of the user facing pages of my blog are good old static html. Being a programmer, I found it easiest to make my own templating engine. My blog posts live on my own PC, in .txt files, and are translated to .html files using my C# command line program. Then I upload all the changed files to my git repository, and the CloudFlare servers automatically update the files to their server. Simple and fast, the whole process takes only seconds! And it's free, so no complaints there!
I've updated/repaired all of the old pages of the blog. You should go look at how Driftmoon started.
PS. I'm working on something new! Stay tuned for more news... And in case you haven't yet ordered it, sign up for our newsletter. We'll probably send it when our next game is out, so don't worry about it filling up your inbox.
- Made game window resizeable.
- Fixed bug in the crypt level where you could travel outside the playable area.
- Fixed message bottle and wizard hat size, they were ever so tiny!
- Mystery box server interface removed because of lack of use.
- Fixed companions going missing when quick traveling from the Nomon Docs warehouse, and other places.
- The little box companion is now unkillable.
- No longer possible to drop to lava from the end game fortress.
- Fix being able to quick travel out of the locked tavern at Northrop.
To celebrate our new icon, I've updated Driftmoon! New release 1.8.6 also brings some bugfixes:
- Driftmoon is now available on the Microsoft Store!
- Fixed mystery box bug.
- Fix the trapped fly escaping before the player met him near the end fortress.
- Fixed Bill sometimes dying from explosion near the end fortress.
- Fixed Mother Wolf sometimes getting killed before the player even met her.
- Various minor bugs and fixes.